


Return

by Burgie



Series: Katja Joins Team Good AU [25]
Category: Star Stable
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 07:59:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7793677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anne returns to the bunker after a long absence to find something truly upsetting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Return

Anne was the lone Soul Rider who didn’t choose to live in the bunker. She instead lived in the castle, terrorising anyone who might come near it. Pandoria had not been kind to her, and Katja had suggested that it had driven her mad. She was probably right.

She did come sometimes though, usually turning up with some new way of winning Alex back. It usually came to nothing more than turning up in front of her crying, though. She tried to speak, but it was always just tears.

The thing was, though, that she never entered through the front door. She always teleported in. Nobody knew how she’d managed to map the layout of the bunker, and nobody wanted to ask. She was just a ghost, turning up unexpectedly in the lounge room or the bathroom. Or Alex’s bedroom. Usually naked.

This time, though, she’d been away for months. And then one day, she was just there.

“Aideen’s light, girl, don’t do that!” said Avalon, holding a hand to his racing heart. Anne glanced at him, then looked back away. Runes glimmered on her skin, ones of invisibility and stealth.

“I’ve been standing here for hours,” said Anne. She was outside Alex’s bedroom, appearing to stare at the wall. She was staring through it, and Avalon knew this.

“Your tricks won’t work anymore,” said Avalon. “That room has been warded against everything since…”

“Since what?” asked Anne. She pushed the door open, and Avalon was surprised to see her doing something normal for once. And then it clicked to him who was in there.

“Wait, don’t go in there!” Avalon called.

“Why not?” asked Anne. “Katja and Alex are currently deeper in the bunker. Near the basements.” She closed her eyes for a moment and inhaled deeply. “They’re using a great deal of magic, whatever they’re doing.”

“Mandy’s in there,” said Avalon quickly. Anne stopped and turned to face him. Her eyes were scary, glowing a faint pink with Pandorian spirals on both. Avalon could only look her in the eye for a moment.

“Who?” asked Anne.

“She’s their…” He probably shouldn’t tell her.

“Their what?” asked Anne. She tugged on his hood so he had no choice but to look at her.

“Fine, she’s their daughter, please stop looking at me,” said Avalon. Anne let him go, but not by choice. She’d frozen, not even breathing.

“A…” she couldn’t say anything. But at least she blinked, and Avalon could free himself of her gaze. Once freed, he sent out a quick spell to alert the parents. And then another to increase the protective spells on Mandy.

“Anne, don’t do anything rash,” said Avalon. She wouldn’t hurt the child, surely. But she was unpredictable now.

“I won’t,” said Anne. “I just have to see…” Her words broke off into a squeak.

“Damn it,” Avalon muttered as Anne stepped into the room. He went in after her.

Anne stood over the crib, her fingers clutching the edge. This was real. Pink-tinged tears slipped down her cheeks as she looked down at the sleeping child. She was still very young, hardly more than a newborn. Well, as far as Anne knew, anyway, it wasn’t like she made a habit of spending time around young children. The pale blonde hair that curled around Mandy’s face was just like Katja’s, but the eyes that opened when the tears fell on her were Alex’s.

“How can I compete with this?” Anne whispered, unclenching a fist to reach towards the child. It could still be an illusion, Katja was very good at those, after all. But illusions never stood up to physical touch. 

“Don’t touch her, you monster!” someone snapped, and Anne suddenly felt magic bounce off her skin. It was enough to get her attention. She looked away from the baby and saw Her standing in the doorway, glaring at her.

“You had a child with her,” said Anne. Katja was the only person who didn’t flinch away from Anne’s scary eyes. She didn’t flinch away now, either, her claws out and teeth bared.

“Step away from her,” said Katja. Her tone was icy, but Anne detected a faint tremble.

“I’m not going to hurt her,” said Anne. She looked back at the baby, and in an instant she had claws at her throat pinning her to the far wall.

“Keep away from her anyway,” said Katja. “I won’t have anyone hurting my child. Not again.”

“Again?” asked Anne. She could hardly get the word out through the claws on her throat. “She looks perfectly healthy to me.”

“Not that child,” snapped Katja. “My- actually, no. I’m not going to tell you about it. You don’t deserve to know. You’d use it against me, I know you would.”

“This is your way of claiming her, isn’t it, you witch?” Anne hissed at her. Katja growled and her claws slipped a little, drawing blood.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Katja. Her grip slackened, and Anne finally managed to push her off. The push was a little too hard, evidently, sending the siren onto the bed. Katja gasped and her hands went to her stomach in a protective instinct.

“Seriously?” asked Anne. “Again? Already? Ugh, I can’t believe you.”

“And I can’t believe you.” The familiar voice sent a chill down Anne’s spine. Uh oh.

“Alex,” said Anne, turning to look at the girl in the doorway. Alex was glaring at her. Anne returned the expression. “You had a child with her. You bred with a monster, Alex, you created an abom-“ Her words cut off abruptly in a gasp.

“Leave this room, Anne,” said Avalon, having pulled his hood down and donned one of his scarier faces. The one that looked like a skull.

“Alex I, I just came to-“ 

“I don’t want to hear it,” said Alex, moving to stand between Anne and Katja. “Just go away, Anne.”

“No,” said Anne, but it wasn’t in answer to Alex’s order. She did begin to leave the room slowly, feeling Alex’s glare on her the whole way. “I wasn’t going to hurt her, Alex, you have to believe that.”

“You don’t have to touch her to hurt her,” said Alex. 

“But all I said was-“

“I heard what you said,” said Alex.

“Well then why is she so damn touchy about her children? It’s like she’s more animal than human,” said Anne.

“And you would do well to stay away from her, Anne,” said Avalon. “Unless, of course, you want those cuts on your neck to be a little deeper.” Anne touched her fingers to her neck, having forgotten the pain in her anguish.

“I should go get these patched up,” said Anne. She looked at Alex one more time and then ran out of the room, tears mingling with the blood from her neck.


End file.
